Chapter 5: THE CURRICULUM

62) Does A Course in Miracles
have to be studied, or is it enough just to do the workbook and read the
text randomly, in whatever way I feel guided to do?

Again, there is no right or wrong in
pursuing A Course in Miracles as a spiritual path. However, there
are certain guidelines we can present that can help ensure that one's work
with the Course is not being guided by the ego. One such guideline
is always to return to Jesus' own instructions for his curriculum. The
three books are set up as a college course, in which, to summarize this
again, there is the basic textbook, which contains the theoretical
material that the instructor (here of course it is Jesus) wishes the class
to study, learn, and understand; the workbook, which as in a laboratory
course for example, is the practical application of what is learned in
the text; and the manual, which offers guidelines for all pupils,
who in this curriculum are also teachers.

What does this mean for Course students?
Simply, that they are asked by Jesus to study, learn, and understand
his teaching material, as well as to practice the Course's principles
of forgiveness. That is why, for example, he does not require that students
understand
what is said in the workbook, as we have already seen in the quotation
cited above (W-in.8-9). But he does not let his students off that hook
when it comes to the text. Near the end of Chapter 1, he states very clearly:

This is a course in mind training.
All learning involves attention and study at some level. Some of
the later parts of the course rest too heavily on these earlier sections
not to require their careful study. You will also need them for
preparation. Without this, you may become much too fearful of what is to
come to make constructive use of it. However, as you study these earlier
sections, you will begin to see some of the implications that will
be amplified later on (T-1.VII.4; italics ours).

In fact, during the Course's dictation,
Jesus was quite insistent to Helen and Bill that they study these notes,
as he referred to the material. He was speaking in the manner of a college
professor insisting that his students pay careful attention to what was
being taught, and to study the lecture notes he was giving. It would
be in direct contradiction to the wishes of Jesus not to study the
text, as he specifically asks. To ignore these very specific instructions
at the end of Chapter I provides still another example of students' authority
problems, wherein they believe that they know better than Jesus what is
in their own best interests, not to mention how they should proceed with
his
Course.

Regarding the workbook, since it is
not meant to be the teaching aspect of the curriculum, it need not
be read nor studied in the manner that the text should be. Certainly, however,
it needs to be practiced as the instructions indicate. This being
said, we nonetheless believe that students would do well in their work
with A Course in Miracles -- to enhance their understanding of it
-- to read carefully through the workbook itself at some point after they
have gone through the lessons, as they would do with the text. Many would
be astounded at what they would find there: a depth of teaching that can
easily be overlooked as one does the lessons in the one-year training program.

Reproduced with the kind permission of Gloria and
Kenneth
Wapnick and the Foundation for A Course in Miracles